*Venezuela: Special commission to design 2025 electoral schedule
*Russia accuses Ukraine and the U.S. Of terrorist acts against Europe’s energy supplies
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*Russia accuses Ukraine and the U.S. Of terrorist acts against Europe’s energy supplies
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to From the South, I'm Alejandra Garcia from Telesur Studios in Caracas, Venezuela.
00:14We begin with the news and we begin with a breaking news.
00:17U.S. President Joe Biden lifts a state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, part of
00:23deal to free prisoners.
00:25The Biden administration on Tuesday is notifying Congress of its intent to lift the U.S. designation
00:33of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
00:36The White House announced this information as part of the deal facilitated by the Catholic
00:43Church to free political prisoners on the island.
00:48Senior U.S. administration officials who previewed the announcement on the condition of anonymity
00:55said many dozens of prisoners and other considers by the U.S. would be released by the end of
01:05the Biden administration at noon on January 20th.
01:10This is what the statement said.
01:12In the final days, let's recall that in the final days of Trump's first administration
01:17on January 11th, 2021, the White House reinstated the designation which had been reversed
01:25during the period of reapproachment between Cuba and the United States during President
01:30Barack Obama's second term in office.
01:34In doing so, Donald Trump's administration cited Cuba once again as an alleged support
01:41for Venezuela's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and also its refusal to accept the political
01:49process of the Cuban revolution as among other issues, including other political reasons,
01:58and also this including Cuba in the list of countries sponsoring of terrorism is part
02:04of the long history of harassment that the successive U.S. administrations are carried
02:10out against the Cuban revolution.
02:32In Doha, Qatar, representatives of both Israel and Palestine are going through the latest
02:38stage of negotiations in which it is estimated they swap hostages and sign a ceasefire agreement.
02:45Official sources announced significant breakthroughs lately.
02:49Therefore, experts said Israel and Palestine are likely to reach an agreement on Tuesday.
02:55Spokespersons of both sides have been holding talks for a ceasefire in three stages.
03:01Authorities revealed the ceasefire has not been reached due to an obstacle they haven't detailed.
03:08Meanwhile, Gazans in the Strip are getting every day more exhausted as a result of daily
03:13Israeli offensive, remaining skeptical because they have already experienced
03:18similar situations before that end in disappointing failure.
03:27The Yemeni army struck major Israeli targets on the occupied Palestinian territories.
03:32The AFAR-led army issued a communique to confirm it, detailing that four unmanned
03:38Yemeni aircraft hit several vital Israeli positions in the AFAR region.
03:43Earlier, the Yemeni forces mounted an operation against the Israeli Ministry of War Affairs.
03:49In this regard, the Yemeni military have reaffirmed that they will continue their
03:53military incursions against Tel Aviv until the end of the occupation
03:57and the lifting of the siege imposed on Gaza.
04:03Israeli genocidal forces have been going on their unprecedented offensive against Gazans
04:11in the past 24 hours. Ironically, media outlets estimate this could be a sign
04:16that a ceasefire deal may be closer. Leaders of the Hamas resistance movement
04:20kept posted Palestinian authorities on the advances in the current ceasefire negotiations
04:25in Doha, Qatar. Meanwhile, the Palestinian foreign minister warned of Israeli plans
04:31to hamper communications between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. In addition,
04:36the Gazan media office expressed its concern over the escalation of war correspondents' killings
04:42in Gaza. Furthermore, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society stated that Israeli forces have arrested
04:47around 35 Palestinians across the West Bank since Monday evening.
04:55The strike happened right after the sunset prayers. This house there was targeted.
05:00There was a belt of fire on the Ghafari area, which is on a crossing with Al-Jalaa street.
05:04This area is called the Ghafari area. It's crowded with residents. It's crowded with
05:09displaced people who have fled from Beit Hainan, from Jabalia. The Jews forced them to leave,
05:13so they came to the Jalaa and Nasser area. The explosion was so strong that it leveled houses
05:19to the ground. There were martyrs and injured people strewn across the street. It was at sunset,
05:24there were no ambulances, there were no carts or cars to transport the injured.
05:29The injured were bleeding out on the streets, and when the ambulances arrived,
05:32most of them had already died.
05:36And now we have a short break coming up, but first remember you can join us on TikTok
05:40at Tell Us Your English, where you'll find news in different formats, news updates and more.
05:45We'll be right back, stay with us.
05:59Welcome back from the South. In Venezuela, the National Assembly had a meeting on Tuesday
06:03following the summons to political parties to designate the 2025 electoral timetable.
06:09National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez detailed that the Special Commission for the
06:13Review of the Rules and Laws on Electoral Processes and Political Parties will go over
06:17the necessary arrangements to carry out the local, regional and parliamentary elections.
06:22Esquerra Republic and the European Union will meet on Thursday to discuss the
06:26and parliamentary elections scheduled for the year 2025.
06:30The aim is to set out the different guidelines on election days,
06:35what qualifies a candidate to run, and periodical election awareness and campaigning.
06:44Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil announced a decision to limit to three the number of
06:50diplomats accredited in the embassies of the Netherlands, France and Italy.
06:54The move comes in response to the hostile conduct of this government,
06:58marked by their support for extremist groups and their interference in internal affairs.
07:04In addition, diplomats must have written authorization from the Venezuelan Foreign
07:08Minister to travel more than 40 kilometers from Bolívar Square in Caracas.
07:13The measure is to be complied with within 48 hours.
07:17Venezuela demands respect for sovereignty and self-determination,
07:21principles established in the United Nations Charter.
07:29The International Congress of Communication in Caracas,
07:32Venezuela came to an end after two days of work.
07:35The Congress has taken a number of important decisions.
07:38Details from our Special Envoy, Juno Zunar.
07:42Caracas, Venezuela continues to be a global center of the fight against fascism and imperialism.
07:48After three days of the World Festival of the Anti-Fascist International,
07:52on Monday finished the International Congress of Communication with an anti-fascist,
07:56anti-colonial, anti-patriarchal and anti-imperialist agenda.
08:00Its objective is to be part of constructing a new world.
08:04Our communication intended to recreate the narratives for changing the world,
08:12changing the subjectivities, the identities, changing the leading people,
08:21creating the new states, the new utopias, the new forms to be people, to be humanity.
08:32More than 400 delegates from 100 countries came together for two days.
08:36Their battlefield, communication networks and the so-called social media owned by
08:41Western corporations. In eight workshops they discussed ideas and proposals with concrete
08:46outcomes.
08:48We decided to make an executive secretary to work permanently, not just in Venezuela,
08:54also in each other country that is getting over here.
09:00A number of decisions were taken. Delegates agreed to establish the Hugo Chavez International
09:05People's Communication Award. The first grantee are the more than 100 Palestinian journalists
09:10who lost their lives in Israel's attacks.
09:16Imperialism's walls cannot be an obstacle against the communication and development
09:20of the peoples that love independence, peace and justice.
09:24This Congress is a beacon and a window for us.
09:31Creating the network of the networks established was a permanent secretariat within the
09:36International University of Communication, an international team of researchers and the
09:40plan of action for the creation of media content. Media institutions will consolidate their
09:46relations within what delegates call the network of the networks, globally.
09:51As you know, Islamic resistance comes from other nature, Latin American socialism,
09:58the other one. But when these people that actually are trying hard to fight against
10:08imperialism come under or unite themselves under a unique flag of...
10:14Several speakers spoke about coordinating the effort with China and Russia. Delegates
10:19from the latter have already ideas.
10:21Russia has his own experience to struggle with fake news. On political level, on society
10:29level, we can propose a project of laws for any countries how to work with fake news.
10:38In her closing remarks, director of the International University of Communications,
10:42Tania Diaz, said the Congress was a step further to complete Simon Bolivar's dream.
10:47In communications, the Liberators' vision is now beginning to embrace the entire world.
10:58In Ecuador, the electoral campaign moves forward with the candidates touring
11:02different provinces to present their proposals amidst violence and power struggles.
11:07In total, there are 16 candidates running on this occasion. All of them are using social
11:13media to try to win votes by appealing to local needs as well as to national challenges.
11:18The campaign has been marked by the brutal murder of four children after a military operation
11:24and the ongoing controversy between President Daniel Novoa and his vice president, Veronica Abad,
11:30in addition to the murder of Arenillas Mayor Everponce, which led Novoa to
11:36retake the presidency after he asked for a three-day leave of absence.
11:43The United Nations warns that the number of people in Haiti who have fled their homes due to
11:48criminal armed violence rose threefold in the last year to over one million.
11:57In December 2023, we did record around 315,000 people who were displaced from the violence.
12:05One year since then, we have seen the number triple to over a million people who have now
12:12been displaced because of gang violence in Haiti. This is a really troubling number,
12:19and it represents the security situation that most Haitians are currently facing.
12:25The most concrete data we have is that around 1,041,000 people, to be precise,
12:31are currently living in displacement in Haiti. Most of these people have been displaced multiple
12:37times. We have seen a lot of the displacement occurring within the capital of Port-au-Prince,
12:43but then we have seen also a lot of people being displaced and moving towards
12:48the neighboring provinces, and this also has created a bit of pressure on the
12:54social services within the provinces that are adjacent to Haiti.
12:59We have a second short break coming up, but before we invite you to visit our YouTube channel
13:08at TeleCity English, there you'll be able to re-watch our interviews, top stories,
13:12special broadcastings and more. Hit the subscribe button and activate the notification bell to stay
13:17up to date on the world's most recent events. Final short break, don't go away.
13:30Welcome back to From the South. The Russian government accused the United States and
13:39Ukraine of planning terrorist attacks aimed at destroying the European Union's energy security.
13:45Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Washington and Kyiv are not only planning,
13:50but have carried out attacks on the Nord Stream and Turkish Stream gas pipelines in an unconscionable
13:57manner. The diplomat affirmed that the United States seeks to eliminate any kind of competition
14:03in all sectors, and in this case the energy area is no exception. On Tuesday, the Russian
14:09Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to attack with drones
14:14the compressor station that supplies gas to Turkey and southeastern European countries
14:19through the Turkish Stream. The United States does not need any kind of rival in any sector,
14:28starting with the energy sector, where they shamelessly allow terrorist acts to destroy the
14:37basis of the energy welfare of the European Union, where they encourage their Ukrainian
14:42followers to repeat what they did to the Nord Stream and take the Turkish Stream out of service.
14:48The Russian Federation will sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with the Islamic
14:58Republic of Iran. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attached importance to the agreement
15:04ahead of the visit of Iranian President Massoud Pashinyan, who will meet his Russian counterpart
15:10Vladimir Putin on January 17. On the meeting, the heads of state are expected to debate on
15:16broadening bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, transport, logistics and
15:22culture. The Russian diplomat indicated that after signing the agreement, both presidents
15:28will make statements to the media. South Korean President Jung Suk-kyo failed to attend the first
15:38hearing on his impeachment trial before the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. The first
15:44hearing in the court proceedings to determine whether or not Jung's impeachment is final ended
15:49just four minutes after it began, due to the absence of the defendant. The Constitutional
15:55Court is scheduled to hold a new hearing on January 16, to which Jung Suk-kyo was summoned
16:01again, although the legal body has the power to proceed without the defendant's presence.
16:06The South Korean president's lawyers had already said that he was not planning to attend the first
16:12hearing, due to concerns about his personal safety after a failed arrest attempt.
16:22Health authorities in Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency after the country reported
16:26its second case of mpox in less than four days. The health ministry said neither case had known
16:33recent contact with infected animals or other sick individuals. Only the first case involved
16:39recent travel limited to the airport town of Lungi in the northern port of Loco district.
16:45Both patients are receiving treatment at the hospital in the capital Freetown.
16:49Mpox was first identified by scientists in 1958, when outbreaks of pox-like disease in monkeys
16:57occurred. In 2022, the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time and triggered
17:04outbreaks in more than 70 countries across the world that had not previously reported mpox.
17:13On Tuesday, the Angolan health ministry reported that the death toll from a cholera outbreak rose
17:19to 19 and there are 283 confirmed cases in the northern coast. Authorities estimate that this
17:26outbreak started on December 31, 2024, with a patient who developed symptoms of vomiting and
17:32diarrhea. Health authorities added that of the active cases, 129 are men and 154 are women between
17:41the ages of 2 and 73 years old. Most of the cases are centered in the municipality of
17:47Cahuaco, where 33 people have been admitted to hospital centers.
17:53The Cuban Academy of Sciences commemorated and mandated the Day of Science at the Hermanos
17:58Amajeras Hospital in Havana. In the event, the president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences,
18:04Dr. Luis Velazquez, expressed that it is crucial to surge the figure of technology-based companies
18:10in addition to empowering youngsters. In the ceremony, Dr. Alejandro González highlighted
18:16the significant contributions to science of the wise physician and researcher Carlos Jota Finlay
18:23in Zoom. The historical date was celebrated Monday nationwide as it is the Nation's Day of Science
18:29since January 15, 1990. Cuba is a referral when it comes to science for the scientific training
18:36in which young people take the lead.
18:47You are our paradigm. Everything that was read there is nothing compared to the knowledge base
18:51that exists in this room. Really we are young associates who have the yearning, the dream of
18:56someday becoming academics, tenured academics, physicians like you are, so I think the first
19:01applause is for yourselves.
19:06And we have come to the end of this news brief, but you can find this and many other stories on
19:10our website at telecityenglish.net and join us on social media. We are on Facebook,
19:15X, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok as well. For Telecity English, I'm Alejandra García.